Glue Traps (Offences) Bill

Debate between Gagan Mohindra and Jerome Mayhew

Committee stage
Wednesday 19th January 2022 Public Bill Committees

[Jerome Mayhew]

I am grateful for that intervention; we clearly agree with each other. I do not want to put unnecessary barriers in the way of the progression of this Bill—we want it to have a following wind—but there appears to be cross-party concern that the wording might need to be tightened up, or at least that explanations as to what might amount to a reasonable excuse should be given.

[Mr Gagan Mohindra (South West Hertfordshire) (Con)]

Thank you for the honour of serving in this debate, Mr Dowd. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Wolverhampton North East (Jane Stevenson) on her private Member’s Bill reaching Committee. I attended its Second Reading on 19 November last year and greatly enjoyed the contributions of many Members, and was glad to hear the Government support for the Bill.

In the United Kingdom, we are rightly proud of the welfare standards for animals. The Brexit dividend has enabled us to continue to advance our world-leading animal welfare standards. Future legislation will introduce strong legal protections for all animals and ban the use of inhumane glue traps.

Pest control is necessary as pests can be a huge threat to public health, but they should be captured and controlled as humanely as possible. Other traps, such as snap or break back, are more humane, cost effective and reusable. Glue traps inflict slow, painful deaths on animals that have been captured, and do not just target rodents because other wildlife can be caught by these indiscriminate traps. They are described by many as one of the cruellest forms of rodent control. Therefore, I support the ban on this mechanism. Ireland and New Zealand already have bans and have transitioned seamlessly.

In my eyes, people with professional pest control licences should be able to continue to purchase these traps, because they are qualified to use them. The pest control industry is evolving as people become more aware of animal sentience and the need to treat all animals humanely. I welcome this legislation, and I once again applaud my hon. Friend the Member for Wolverhampton North East for introducing it.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Gagan Mohindra and Jerome Mayhew

Monday 10th January 2022 Commons Chamber

[Mr Gagan Mohindra (South West Hertfordshire) (Con)]

8. What steps his Department is taking to help protect the territorial integrity of Ukraine.

[Jerome Mayhew (Broadland) (Con)]

14. What steps his Department is taking to help protect the territorial integrity of Ukraine.